Litigation Case Scenario
You are a junior investigator in a newly established internal investigations department in Blue Arrow Technologies (BAT). Your supervisor came straight from a position at a law enforcement agency and does not really have your experience in internal, civil investigations. You are to assume that BAT is located where you currently reside. On your second day at work, you get a call from Human Resources. They say that John Schmoe, a regional sales manager, just left and is suspected of joining a direct competitor Just Act Magnificently, Inc. (JAM). You then get a call from legal saying that that the sales department Director is exploring litigation against JAM for illegally taking John Schmoe and for possible loss of trade secrets. He indicates that he likely will be calling you again to help investigate other current employees, as well. You then report these calls to your supervisor. In an uneasy tone, he asks you to write him a research project, outlining the most general requirements and concerns in responding to these inquiries. He tells you to make any reasonable assumptions, as long as you indicate that your assumptions are supported by fact based resources (this is not an opinion project, suggestions have to be supported with resources). He doesn’t like to read too much, so he limits you five (5) pages, double-spaced – the page count does not include the cover or references page. Consider: This is an initial assessment of what BAT might need to consider if they do end up in litigation; frame your key messages against that backdrop. Think about identification, collection, preservation (files, email, voice mail, text, printed copies, etc). When is litigation reasonably anticipated? The Sedona Conference Principles (the process for eDiscovery) -but consider reviewing some of the material for your paper. Do not write your project to your boss – write in a formal manner as if any member of the organization is going to read it; your boss is simply the person assigning the parameters of the project.
